STORY ARCHIVE

Technoviticulture

TRANSCRIPT

Anja TaylorWe're now heading away from the coast into wine country - the Coonawarra Region, South Australia, where we'll be finding out about the science and technology that puts great wine on our tables.

Dr Derek MullerAlright, this is the place.

Anja TaylorBut first, we've been invited for lunch.

Allen JenkinsWelcome, everybody.

Anja TaylorCheers.

Simon PampenaCheers!

Anja TaylorSo this is one of your finest wines we're drinking?

Allen JenkinsOh, absolutely.

Anja TaylorHow do you make a really good drop like this? What's the secret?

Allen JenkinsThere's a whole combination of factors, really. But the reality is, to get it right, there's quite a lot of science underpinning it. It's not that simple. But, anyway, let's enjoy the rest of our lunch.

Anja TaylorShut up about science?

Allen JenkinsOhh, shut up about science. And we'll show you some new technology after lunch.

Anja TaylorOur first stop after lunch is a soil pit. Not quite what I was expecting, but, understanding the soil is crucial to producing a good crop and the perfect drop.

Allen JenkinsTerra rossa.

Anja TaylorDoes that mean 'red soil'?

Allen JenkinsAbsolutely. Red soil.

Anja TaylorWhat's the idea of digging this whole pit?

Allen JenkinsIt's really to just try and gauge how deep the soils are in this new vineyard that we're planting here. It's a really special soil. If you have a look at the texture here... When we break this light clay up, this red light clay up, it shapes into a series of polyhedral peds that act like gravel in the soil.

Anja TaylorSo, what does that do for the wine?

Allen JenkinsWell, it means that the roots of the vine can explore this soil fully. And it holds beautiful water. It doesn't get waterlogged. The amount of root you have under the ground really determines how much leaf and growth you have above the ground. So our key aim, really, is to try and even up this unevenness, or when we can't even it up, understand it and try and manage it.

Anja TaylorAnd compensate for the differences.

Allen JenkinsAnd compensate.

Anja TaylorThe root depth is also limited by as porous layer of limestone.

Allen JenkinsThere's a hard layer of calcrete on the surface that's very hard. But certainly the water can very easily drain through the limestone, and below us is an underground aquifer that's permanently located in this limestone. The roots don't go that far, so we have to pump that water out and apply it with a lot of precision and care in the vineyard to make sure the vines grow really well.

Simon PampenaAnd, as I'm about to find out, 'really well' means keeping the vine under just a little bit of stress. Allen these vineyards are beautiful. But how could you possibly know what's underneath the soil? Have you dug it up, like the other place?

Allen JenkinsNo, we didn't do soil pits here. We've grown the vineyard and we use some near-infrared photography from an aircraft flying at about 7,000 feet.

Simon PampenaWhat, you can see into the soil?

Allen JenkinsNo, but we can gauge how green the vines are, what the plant cell density of the vineyard is. This is an aerial image taken by an aircraft flying over the vineyard. It's called a plant cell density map. And it's reading, if you like, the vine greenness.

Simon PampenaAnd that's telling you...?

Allen JenkinsIt's telling us the different levels of vigourness. So, where it's green indicates that that's a lower-vigour part of the vineyard or there's less leaf and less greenness. Whereas where it's black, that means the vines are growing more vigorously, they'd have denser and greener plant cells. Probably too healthy for making grape wine.

Simon PampenaOh, really? How do you fix up these variations that you've got here.

Allen JenkinsWe have lots of tools. In this particular vineyard, we've decided to plant a very deep-rooted cover crop - chicory - which has a deep tap root that goes down a long way...

Simon PampenaThis stuff here's intentional?

Allen JenkinsYeah, absolutely intentional.

Simon PampenaI thought you just hadn't gone around with the weed-whacker.

Allen JenkinsNo, no, no. Absolutely intentional.

Simon PampenaThe chicory competes with the vine for water. This stresses the vine a little and slows down its growth.

Simon PampenaYou're a very caring parent.

Allen JenkinsVery caring parent.

Simon PampenaJust the right amount of pressure to get the best results.

Allen JenkinsJust the right amount of pressure. If you feed them too much, they become too lush, dense shade, poor colour, big berries.

Simon PampenaDon't feed your children too much.

Allen JenkinsKeep 'em skinny.

Simon PampenaThey work better.

Allen JenkinsKeep them working.

Simon PampenaAnd it's the opposite situation with shallow soil.

Simon PampenaYou're gonna give me wine, though, aren't you?

Allen JenkinsMaybe.

Simon PampenaWe're going to add compost to keep the soil moist.

Simon PampenaI've got a degree. It's in mathematics.

Allen JenkinsThis has nothing to do with degree work. This is practical application. You need to do it well.

Simon PampenaI've got a licence.

Allen JenkinsHave you?

Simon PampenaYeah. For a sedan.

Allen JenkinsGood.

Simon PampenaIt's as simple as flicking the switch and out comes the compost.

Allen JenkinsIt's really just to enable deeper rooting, cooler roots, less evaporation. When we head into that deep grey, we'll just turn off the spreader.

Simon PampenaOtherwise we'll be adding compost to chicory.

Simon PampenaAnd that's not the idea.

Dr Derek MullerTo make sure these techniques are working, Catherine Kidman checks the vines daily for water content. This allows them to decide when to irrigate. So if I just grab a leaf?

Catherine KidmanGrab a leaf.

Dr Derek MullerOne of the gadgets Catherine's using is the Scholander pressure cylinder.

Catherine KidmanThis is compressed nitrogen and it's basically measuring how much pressure is required to push the xylem sap out through the top, so how much water is coursing through the leaf. So, we just turn it on. We put the pressure in. And if you just want to have a look, you'll start to see bubbles coming up.

Dr Derek MullerYeah, I see bubbles.

Catherine KidmanSo that's basically the xylem sap, and that's saying, OK, we take a measure...

Catherine KidmanYeah, that's right. So basically we hold it up to the leaf and we just point and shoot. And it'll give us a reading.

Dr Derek MullerAnd the higher the peak reading, the greater the absorbance, and so the more water there is in the leaf.

Catherine KidmanIt's really important that we do do these measures, because we don't want to keep applying irrigation if it doesn't necessarily need it. So it's really about making sure we refine our irrigation techniques.

Dr Derek MullerTo get it just right.

Catherine KidmanJust to get it right, yep, that's right.

Anja TaylorIt all seems so efficient and precise. Does all this technology really improve the quality of the wine? Where's the romance of winemaking gone? It's time to taste test.

So lovely!

Dr Derek MullerHi, guys.

Simon PampenaGuys, how are ya?!

Dr Derek MullerYou made it just in time.

Simon PampenaYeah, I had to get changed.

Dr Derek MullerYou're looking pretty sharp.

Simon PampenaThis is very special.

Anja TaylorVery special.

Dr Derek MullerSo we are taste testing these two wines here. Can you tell these guys a bit about it?

Suzanne HodderYes. We have two single-vineyard wines. One from a shallow-soil vineyard and the other one from a deeper red-soil vineyard. We'd like to see if you could taste the difference.

Dr Derek MullerI think this one tastes a little bit smoky.

Suzanne HodderSmoky? Yes. OK. What about the smell of them? The aroma?

Anja TaylorThat feels smoother, that one, for some reason.

Dr Derek MullerReally? I feel like I'm getting this wrong. And so I was a little confused. But the technology must be working, because even though the wine had come from different soil depths, they were equally as delicious.